The '1st Sopalkosanol World Best Go Player Championship,' which had been indefinitely postponed due to the absence of Chinese players, is finally launching.
The Korea Baduk Association announced on the 24th that the tournament's first round will take place from the 26th to the 30th, starting with the opening ceremony on the 25th at the Korea Baduk Association in Seongdong-gu, Seoul.
The 1st Sopalkosanol World Best Go Player Championship was initially scheduled for February. However, after a forfeit penalty due to a 'stone management' violation by Ninth Dan Ke Jie (China) in the LG Cup finals held at the end of January, the schedule was postponed when the Chinese Go Association notified their absence.
Eventually, the Korea Baduk Association abolished the controversial 'stone management' rule, and the Chinese Go Association decided to participate, allowing the tournament to proceed again. However, Ke Jie, who was invited via a wildcard, decided not to participate.
South Korea will feature Ninth Dan Shin Jin-seo, the domestic tournament champion, along with Park Jung-hwan, Shin Min-jun, and Ninth Dan Kang Dong-yun, who passed the national preliminary rounds. China will also send Ninth Dan Shi Yue and Eighth Dan Tu Xiaoyu through its preliminaries. Japan will be represented by Seventh Dan Fukuoka Gotaro, and Taiwan will send Ninth Dan Hsu Hao-hong, a gold medalist at the Hangzhou Asian Games. The wildcard in place of Ke Jie is Ninth Dan Tang Yi-fei, ranked No. 1 in China as of March.
According to the Korea Baduk Association, all matches in this tournament will be broadcast live. Coverage will be provided daily at 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 5 p.m., and 7 p.m., and some matches between Korean players will be broadcast live separately in May.
The 1st Sopalkosanol World Best Go Player Championship will determine rankings through a 9-player full league format, similar to domestic competitions. After the opening ceremony on the 25th, the first round will be held from the 26th to the 30th, and the second round will take place from June 9th to 12th (with some matches on June 2nd and 3rd) to determine the league rankings. The finals, contested between the first and second place finishers, are scheduled to be held in October.
The Sopalkosanol Best Go Player Championship, held domestically for five years, will expand its scale to include global competitions and will be held biennially starting this year. After the 1st global tournament concludes this year, the 6th domestic tournament will be held in 2026.
Sponsored by Infovel, organized and hosted by the Korea Baduk Association, with Go TV and K-Baduk serving as the main broadcasters, the prize money for the 1st Sopalkosanol World Best Go Player Championship is 200 million won for the champion and 100 million won for the runner-up. The time control is based on an accumulated time system with an additional 30 seconds per hour.
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